


Camouflage

by Thearizona



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Based on a song, Character Death, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-07-13 15:25:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16020710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thearizona/pseuds/Thearizona
Summary: Hiccup is an American Soldier in Vietnam when he gets left behind on a mission. Will he survive?Based on the song "Camouflage" by Sabaton.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve been listening to the song “Camouflage” by Sabaton and it seems inspiration hit me to do this one-shot. If you want, you can blame Vala411 for always doing one-shots and putting that idea in my head instead of writing “Moving On” or FTDATT.

It was late 1965 in the jungles of South Vietnam and Private First Class Hiccup Haddock was lost. His squad had been sent on a search and destroy mission, given the simple orders from their Commander to search and destroy any NVA or VietCong they could find. The squad had come across scattered pockets of resistance but nothing they couldn’t deal with. That was until the last contact they had with Charlie. Hiccup’s M16 had jammed and as he worked to clear the blockage from his weapon, hidden behind a large tree for cover, he missed his squad leader giving the signal to fall back. 

 

“There,” The man said as he looked up to find he was all alone in the jungle. Not seeing his squadmates around at all, Hiccup bit back a curse and stayed low and started listening and was able to hear Charlie all around him. The same contacts they had just been engaging were now advancing towards him. He could hear them talking between each other and slowly advancing towards his position. As he stayed still and listened to his surroundings, he heard twigs snap to his left so he grabbed up his gun, forgetting he hadn’t loaded it and pointed it in the direction of the snap. 

 

Nothing appeared through the brush so Hiccup lowed his gun slightly, staying on guard while making his position more defensible; praying he would make it through the night. He only realized he didn’t have a magazine loaded once he picked his M16 back up. It was then that a large hand fell silently on his shoulder. Hiccup startled and whipped his head around so fast that it might have caused whiplash. His eyes widened when he saw the large Marine that had appeared out of nowhere at his shoulder. The man made a shushing motion and Hiccup nodded. He looked over at the big Marine who had rather friendly eyes and a flaming mop of red hair atop his head.

 

“Wait, if Charlie wants to tangle now he’ll have two to dodge,” the large man said in a deep voice. Both were still hidden as the voices got closer. Hiccup swallowed nervously but he was glad that he had someone watching his six.

 

“Well, thanks a lot!” Hiccup responded. “Names Hiccup, what's yours?”

 

The large Marine smiled and then whispered, “The boys just call me Camouflage.” Hiccup nodded and was still awfully glad to see the big Marine. The two took a battle stance side by side and let loose with their M16’s as they could see the outlines of the Vietnamese that were closing in on them. The two fought ferociously all night, shooting and fighting to hold onto their life and position. Hiccup was confused, he was sure that he saw Camouflage get hit but the man showed no reaction when getting hit and when asked about it he didn’t say anything, it was as if the bullets were going through him as if he wasn't there.

 

All night they fought, only getting a reprieve in the morning when the enemy backed off. The two took a chance and made a break for a nearby river they knew would take the two back to the edge of the jungle that would be near to the base Hiccup was deployed out of. They got close to the riverbank and bullets started flying around them.

 

“Ambush!” Hiccup shouted as he slightly panicked, even though they had been fighting all night.

 

“Stay your position and return fire.” Camouflage said as he calmly stood up and returned fire. Hiccup stayed in a kneeling position but returned fire. You know how they say you can see the bullet that kills you and it's almost as if in slow motion? Well, Hiccup looked left and that's what happened, he saw a 7.62mm bullet from an AK-47 coming flying towards him through a bush. In an instant, much of Hiccup’s life flashed before his eyes.

 

His childhood, hearing stories from his father about fighting in World War Two and Korea, the pride when Hiccup graduated Basic, his girlfriend Astrid back home who was waiting for him and Hiccup made peace with everything when he saw Camouflage, that big Marine, swat that bullet out of the air with his hand as if the bullet was a fly!

 

“You're not dying on me now.” Camouflage said as he kept firing, Hiccup shook himself out of his stupor and returned to shooting back at the enemy. The ambush only took a few minutes to clear and they were back on their way following the river out of the jungle. Once again, Hiccup was awfully glad to see that big Marine. They broke through the jungle and Hiccup could see his camp and he took a few steps out of the jungle and cheered cause they had made it out. Hiccup turned to see Camouflage still in the jungle, the big Marine just giving him a wave goodbye before winking at him and disappearing into the jungle.

 

Hiccup, seeing his friend go back into the jungle, ran to his camp. As he walked through the gate he was immediately swarmed by his best friend, Toothless, who was followed by a medic to check the man out.

 

“Hiccup! You made it!” Toothless said as he nearly hugged his friend to death, only letting go to let the medic check him out. “What happened out there? How did you survive and make it back?”

 

“You won't believe this but this big Marine named Camouflage just appeared out of nowhere and basically rescued me. Even saved me from a bullet or two and I tell you what, it was as if nothing could hit him. The bullets would just go through him like he wasn't there.” Hiccup said, his exhaustion starting to catch up with him. Toothless and the medic looked at each other and Toothless gulped.

 

“What is it?” Hiccup asked as the medic grabbed his arm and led him to a green tent on the right.

 

“You may be tellin’ the truth boy, but this here is Camouflage and he’s been right here since he passed away last night.” The medic told Hiccup as he showed him the dead body of the big Marine that had been with Hiccup all night. “But before he went, he said Semper Fi, and said his only wish was to save a young Marine caught in a mirage. So here, take his dog tag son. I know he’d want you to have it now.” They medic finished as he handed Hiccup the dog tags for Camouflage before sending him out.

 

Hiccup looked at the dog tag, “Dagur Bazerk” was etched in the cold metal that had some blood spatter on it. Clenching the tag in his hand, Hiccup made a promise to himself to try and live up to the man who had saved him as well as find the man's family and said a quick prayer in thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I started writing this in the last hour of a longer work shift than normal, after a long weekend, on the first day of classes....so let's just say I was tired and that's why I started writing this instead of keep going with FTDATT.**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The last few hours of the flight back to Berk were both some of the best and the worst there was. Hiccup thought of that as the C-130 he was in started to descend upon Bork Air Force Base. As it turned out, Camouflage was from Bazerk, a small town about fifteen or so miles north of his hometown of Berk. In fact, he was a descendant of its founder. Just thinking about the man who had saved his life made him grip Dagurs dog tags tighter and look over at the flag-draped wooden box that he was being transported in on his final trip back home.

Home. That one word had the ability to stir up so many emotions in him. His parents, who didn’t want their only child to sign up to go fight when he had a deferment as a university student but were still proud of him. Astrid, his girlfriend since junior year of high school and one of his lifelong friends. All his friends, the ones he had known since what seemed like forever. Fury, his very stubborn pure black stallion that he had helped raise since the horses birth. All good emotions for sure, but he also felt some dread due to the stories he had heard from some of his fellow soldiers who had rotated back home. Being ignored, shunned, spat on, called names, and sometimes being downright attacked. While the small town of about one thousand residents had given him a hearty send-off and had been promised a hero’s return, he was slightly wary of what type of greeting, if any, he would receive.

Hiccup was interrupted from his thoughts by the lurching of the plane as it landed and started to decelerate on the runway. Once Hiccup felt the plane come to a stop and heard the whine of the four turboprop engines lessen he unstrapped from his jump seat and grabbed his kit. Lining up with the rest of the soldiers that were on the transport for rotation home. However, instead of marching off the loading ramp once it was lowered, the whole contingent stood at attention as the honor guard walked up the ramp and took positions next to the five flag-draped caskets that had been flown back with the men. Watching one casket in particular, Hiccup tracked the men as they picked up the caskets and carried them off the plane.

Once all five caskets had exited the plane the rest of the men still inside were allowed to march off the plane. Once off the plane, Hiccup stopped at the bottom of the ramp and followed the caskets to the hearses into which they were loaded to be taken to their hometowns for individual memorial and funeral services.

“Hey Hiccup, you doing ok?” Toothless, his oldest friend and battle buddy, asked him as he noticed the man almost zoned out. The man in question looked over at his friend who had his hand on Hiccups shoulder

“Ya, I'm fine Tooth. Let's go home,” Hiccup said as he looked over to where the family of the returning soldiers were allowed to stand. Toothless looked at his friend for a second, knowing that things were as fine as Hiccup tried to make it seem, the deployment having affected Hiccup worse than it had him. Both spotted Snotlout standing in the crowd in a Berk Police Department uniform and walked towards him.

“Hey Snotlout, still playing dress up I see,” Hiccup quipped to his cousin when they got closer.

“And I see you are still hanging around with that troublemaker,” Snotlout replied, the two standing face to face for a few seconds before they both broke and hugged each other tightly. After a few seconds, the two pulled apart and Snotlout turned to Toothless and the two also embraced in a hug.

“So where is everybody?” Hiccup asked once the hugging had ended.

“Still in Berk, I was just sent to pick you two up and take you back to town.” Snotlout replied, “Now if you would follow me, the car is over this way.” The two soldiers followed him over to where his squad car was parked. Once the three were seated they took off for the short ten-minute drive from the Bork Air Force Base to Berk. As they approached town they noticed a distinct lacking of people but an overabundance of American Flags.

“Hey, Snotlout, where is everybody?” Hiccup asked as they started to enter the outskirts of the town of Berk. Snotlout didn’t respond as he kept driving to the center of town. Hiccup and Toothless shared a look but stayed quiet. They soon came to the Town Hall, which had a simple but rather large sign out front that said ‘Welcome Back Hiccup and Toothless’.

“Well, this is where I drop you two off.” Snotlout said as he came to a stop at the curb outside the Town Hall.

“You not coming in with us Snotlout?” Toothless asked as the man in question didn’t get out of the car with them.

“Nope, I'm still on duty and need to do some patrolling.” Came the response.

“Well then, have a fun time patrolling.” Hiccup said as he shut the door.

“Oh you know I will. Nothing like patrolling nearly empty streets,” Snotlout muttered as he shifted the car into drive. “See you guys later.”

“Well that was a little odd,” Toothless commented as they watched the car drive off.

“It is Snotlout after all,” Hiccup responded, “He has always been slightly off. Now let's go see what the town has waiting for us.”

“Lead the way,” Toothless said as they picked up their bags. With that, the two men walked to the front door of the Town Hall and shared a look before pushing it open. What they saw on the inside shocked them.

“WELCOME HOME!” The shout from almost half the town nearly deafening the two men who were surprised by the verbal assault. Before either of them had time to respond, Hiccup was attacked by a fast-moving blond.

“I missed you so much,” Astrid said as she quickly attached herself in a hug before Hiccup had time to react. Being slightly taller than her, and because she had burrowed her head into his neck, allowed him to rest his chin on her head.

“I missed you too, Milady,” Hiccup whispered back to her as they were simply content to rest in each other's arms for the moment. After a few moments, Hiccup looked over to Toothless to see he was in a similar situation with his girlfriend, Luna.

“Well, this was a pleasant surprise.” Hiccup said as he looked around at everybody who had assembled to welcome them home. “Well don’t stand around on our account,” Hiccup called out, noticing everybody was still standing around, and with that their welcome home party started. Sometime later turning the party Hiccup found himself along with Toothless, their girlfriends having both had left their sides for a moment.

“Are you going to do it?” Toothless asked Hiccup, eyeing his friend.

Hiccup patted his left pants pocket, “I got it right here and planning on doing it when she gets back.” Toothless nodded at him before disappearing as Astrid reappeared.

“So how have you enjoyed being home?” She asked as Hiccup pulled her over to the dance floor where a slow song had started.

“It’s been a lovely time, but there is one person I don't see that I expected too,” Hiccup said as they danced.

“And who is that darling?” Astrid asked him as the song was ending and Hiccup twirled her around.

“My fiance,” He said. Slightly shocked, Astrid saw that Hiccup had let go of her and was down on one knee, open ring box in hand. Everybody else had stopped what they were doing and were watching the couple.

“Astrid, would you do me the honor of being my wife?” Hiccup asked her.

“Yes,” Astrid said, joy extremely evident in her voice as Hiccup proceeded to slide her new ring onto Astrid's finger. Astrid quickly fell onto Hiccup in a hug and the two soon started in a passionate kiss as Hiccup lifted them both up to a standing position.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Hey guys, so I could have kept going but I have been nursing a headache for most of the day and can’t seem to focus. Hope you enjoyed this cause I couldn't get it out of my mind.**

**Semper Fi,**

**Thearizona**

**Author's Note:**

> Well it's Memorial Day weekend, or close enough, and I was listening to this song and the idea for the came to mind. Actually was working on FTDAT but clearly, I got distracted by this. Hope you all enjoyed this story. Now go give the song a listen, I love it enough to write a story based on it so.
> 
> Semper Fi,  
> Thearizona


End file.
